Academy Notebook: 2013/2014 season in full swing

Amado Lozano and Arturo Wuest Jr. each scored hat tricks, and the U14 Quakes Academy team found the net early and often in a 9-1 victory over Ballsitic United of Pleasanton Saturday afternoon in the season-opener . The nine goals scored by San Jose was the most by any team in any age group from the opening weekend.

It was a wild opening day for the new age group of the USSDA. Six hat tricks were recorded around the league, with two of them provided by San Jose . Even more impressive, Wuest is listed as a defender! Both Lozano and Wuest accomplished their feats in relatively short spans, as Wuest tallied in the 60th, 65th, and 74th minutes while Lozano did his damage in a span of 19 minutes (27th minute, 43rd and 46th).

Christohper Sumano got the scoring started in the 14th minute before Lozano started his barrage in the 27th. Ballistic would get its lone goal in the 37th from Travian Souza, but it would be shortly followed by an Ivan Valencia goal to push the lead to 3-1. After Lozano finished his barage, Kaya Fabbretti got in on the action in the 55th minute, which set the stage for the Wuest show to begin.

The win not only gets the Quakes out of the gate on the right foot, but the nine goals puts them ahead of the rest of the league in the "goals for" category. Cal Odyssey, Juventus, San Juan and Placer United also racked up wins on the inagural weekend. San Jose will open the home schedule this Saturday, the 14th, at 2:45 against Marin FC Alliance.

U-18/ U-16 Weekend Preview:

Saturday marks the beginning of a new season for the U18 and U16 San Jose Earthquakes Academy teams, as both look to improve upon solid 2012-13 campaigns. The 18s advanced to the wildcard playoff round last year, while the 16s narrowly missed the postseason, finishing with a .500 record. The Quakes play host to Northwest Division foe Crossfire Premier to kick off the season before taking on defending division champion Vancouver on Sunday.

The 18s swept Crossfire last season, the first of which, a 2-0 victory, took place at the Mustang Soccer Complex in Danville Feb. 6. Tren Biswell put the Quakes on the board in the 41st minute and Emilio Huerta provided some insurance in the 56th in support of Randell Black's stellar goalkeeping. When the two faced off later in the year, once again San Jose showed its dominance as it outplayed Crossfire in Redmond, WA to the tune of 7-1. Againm it was Black with the quality netminding while his teammates controlled the game from the start. Eli Padilla put the Quakes ahead in the 4th minute before the game slowed down for most of the rest of the half. Crossfire would tie the game in the 42nd, only to see San Jose take the lead right back just one minute later off the foot of Dominic Scotti. Jeremy Romero extended the lead into the break, and the 2nd half was all Quakes. Rodrigo Gonzalez and Jesse Garcia both found the back of the net, with a pair of goals from Biswell sandwiched in between. Saturday's match will begin at 10 a.m. at the Nutrilite Training Facility on Coleman Ave. in San Jose.

The Vancouver Whitecaps visit Danville on Sunday and the Quakes will have revenge on their minds, as San Jose dropped a 3-0 decision in February and a 3-1 match in May to the eventual division champs. Sunday's match will begin at 11 a.m. at the Mustang Soccer Complex in Danville.

Against Crossfire last season, the 16s were 1-0-1, earning a 1-1 draw in the early-season matchup. Amir Bashti found the back of the net for the lone goal in back of some solid goalie work by Remi Prieur. When the two sides met again in May, it was again Prieur shutting down the opposing attack while Bashti added to goals by Philip Hausen and Cylus Sandoval for the 3-1 victory. Hausen and Prieur will look to build on last year's success against Crossfire and get the season started with a bang. The 16s match Saturday will start at 12:30 p.m. on the home turf at Nutrilite.

Vancouver is another opponent that San Jose's 16s enjoyed success against last season, winning both matches by a count of 3-2. In February, the Quakes took momentum from a Josh Totte goal in the 6th minute and quality keeping from JT Marcinkowski. After a Whitecaps equalizer in the 20th minute, Alex Liua put the Quakes back ahead, but it was Jonathan Portillo who would give San Jose the lead for good in the 78th minute to secure the win. The May meeting got off to a shaky start when an own-goal in the 4th and another score in the 14th found San Jose down a pair in hostile territory at the University of British Columbia. Edgar Benitez tightened up the net and his teammates responded in a major way. Jonathan Partida got the Quakes on the board in the 24th minute and then, after half, San Jose went to work. Totte would again come up big, tying the game in the 54th minute and Sandoval would follow with the go-ahead score just one minute later. Partida is another key returner to watch out for this weekend; he was second on the team in scoring last season. Sunday's match will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Danville.